Columbus man is second charged with filming boys at Andover YMCA

A second Anoka County man, this one with a criminal history of sexual assault, was charged Friday with shooting videos of prepubescent boys at the Andover YMCA.

Christopher Michael Bradshaw, 47, of Columbus was charged with a total of four felonies — for interfering with privacy and possession of pornographic work involving minors. Bradshaw is an associate of Dennis Minor, 53, of Coon Rapids, who was charged earlier this month with seven counts of shooting videos of young boys in area YMCA locker rooms.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday in Anoka County, two boys, ages 8 and 10, told authorities that they often changed clothes in the locker room shared by Bradshaw. The boys said they were not aware of anyone taking photographs of them while they were naked. The video was found on Minor's iPhone.

But during a search of Bradshaw's detached garage office, detectives found several hundred pornographic images of children on Bradshaw's computer. One image was taken from an angle focusing on a boy's genital area. Another showed naked prepubescent males lying in bed. The photo images showed the boys performing sexual acts.

Bradshaw was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual assault involving a victim under 13 in Hennepin County in 1997. He was discharged from probation last October.

Before that, he was convicted in 1994 in Cook County of lewd and lascivious conduct.

Anoka County Sheriff's Commander Paul Sommer said "it's way too early to tell" if there are other child pornographers involved. He said the investigation is continuing.

Investigators said they found downloaded on Minor's computer a program type that child pornographers use to share their collections with others on a private network. Minor had at least 25 videos of undressed boys in locker rooms, according to felony charges filed against him.

His computer also contained thousands of images depicting minors engaged in sexual acts, according to the felony charges against him. Authorities don't believe he shot those images.

Minor was arrested after a 12-year-old boy told his parents about a man's suspicious behavior at the Andover YMCA last month. Minor was charged with one count of stalking a victim under 18 with sexual or aggressive intent, two counts of use of minors in a sexual performance and four counts of possession or pornographic work involving minors.

Authorities connected Bradshaw and Minor through phone records and by listening to phone calls Minor made from the Anoka County jail. The complaint also said that they identified Minor and Bradshaw via images from the videos. The nose, mouth and chin area of an adult in a video was consistent with an Internet photograph of Bradshaw. Minor's reflection in locker room mirrors was clearly visible in some videos, authorities said.

Through the calls, authorities discovered a business website called Independent Security Solutions Inc., located in Columbus. Bradshaw's photograph was on the website.

Anoka County Judge Dyanna Street set bail at $250,000 without conditions, or $100,000 with conditions, including having no contact with the victims in this case.

Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo called the case disturbing. "It appears that Bradshaw not only took advantage of the situation, he helped create it," he said.